Pouch for pill-crushing

ABSTRACT

A pill crusher pouch to be placed in a pill crusher apparatus, constructed of a tube of flexible material having an open top and a closed bottom, wherein the all or a portion of the top is angled or curved to facilitate easy pouring of pulverized material from the interior of the pouch. The bottom seal likewise may be angled or curved. The pouch may be seamless, or have one or more seams.

This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/185,695, filed Jun. 10, 2009, and is entitled to that filing date for priority. The specification, figures and complete disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/185,695 are incorporated herein by specific reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to pouches for use with pill crushing devices.

BACKGROUND

Medicines frequently come in pill or tablet form, and in a variety of sizes and shapes. In order to facilitate patient use and medication, pill crushing devices may be used to crush the pill or tablet to pulverize or crush the pill, rather than have the patient consume the pill or tablet whole.

An important part of this process is the pouch in which the pill or tablet is placed when being crushed in the pill crushing device. A variety of such pouches are known in the prior art, but their performance has not been wholly satisfactory. Examples of such pouches and their use with pill crushing devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,915,637 and 7,051,963, which are incorporated herein by specific reference in their entireties for all purposes. Accordingly, there is a need for a new and improved pill crusher pouch that facilitates the removal of the pulverized material from the pouch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows two pouches in accordance with two exemplary embodiments of the present inventions.

FIG. 2 shows several views of pouches in accordance with various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In one exemplary embodiment, a pouch 2 is made from one or two sheets of flexible sheet material. The sheet material may be of any suitable material known in the art, including, but not limited to, polyethylene. The sheet material may be transparent in whole or in part. The pouch may be formed by heat sealing two sheets along the side edges and bottom, or by folding a single sheet to form a tube-like configuration, and applying a heat seal along one edge and along the bottom 4. The top 6 is unsealed to provide an opening. The pouch may be printed or stamped with indicia, which may used for advertising, orienting the pouch within the pill crusher, or other functions. The sheet material may be ribbed or patterned in whole or in part to strengthen the pouch. Ribs may be vertical, horizontal, angled, or a combination thereof.

The seal line along the bottom 4 of the pouch may be of any configuration. It may be flat with sharp 90-degree angles at the corners with the right and left edges of the pouch. It may be rounded, curved or cup-like, with no corners. It may be flat for a portion of the bottom, with rounded corners or beveled corners (i.e., at a angle, such at 30 degrees, 45 degrees, 60 degrees, or the like). It may be pointed (i.e., the angled sections meet). The beveled angles also may differ for the same pouch. These alternative configurations assist in preventing crushed powder from being trapped in the pouch.

As shown in FIG. 1, in one embodiment the top 6 of the pouch is not flat, but is slanted or angled. This assists the user in pouring crushed powder from the pouch, especially into a small or restricted area, such as a spoon or cup. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the top may be slanted or angled along its entire length, or only part of its length, with the remaining part flat or at a different angle. The angled top may be straight, or curved along its length in whole or in part.

In another embodiment, the bottom and the top may both be angled or curved in the same direction.

The use of the improved pouch ensures that all of the medication is available and none is lost in transfer from the pouch into another container. The pouch is low in cost to produce, and can be disposed after a single use, thus reducing problems with medicinal cross-contamination. The pouch also may hold a variety of pills to allow a mixing of medicines. Being transparent, the pouch allows the user to easily determine when a desired leveling of crushing or pulverization has been achieved.

The size of the pouch may vary as needed, and may be any length convenient to a user. In one exemplary embodiment, as seen in FIG. 1, the pouch is approximately 2 inches wide, 3.75 inches in length along the longest edge, and 2.75 inches along the shortest edge, with a seal 0.125 inches in width starting 0.1875 inches from the bottom. In another embodiment, the pouch is approximately 50 mm wide, 100 mm inches in length along the longest edge, and 80 mm along the shortest edge, with a seal 3 mm in width starting 5 mm from the bottom.

Thus, it should be understood that the embodiments and examples have been chosen and described in order to best illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical applications to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited for particular uses contemplated. Even though specific embodiments of this invention have been described, they are not to be taken as exhaustive. There are several variations that will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. A pill crusher pouch, comprising: a front panel of sheet material, with a top, bottom and two side edges; a back panel of sheet material, with a top, bottom and two side edges; said front and back panel being sealed together along their corresponding bottom and side edges to form an open pouch with two sides edges, wherein the two side edges of the pouch are not the same length.
 2. The pouch of claim 1, wherein the top of the pouch is angled.
 3. The pouch of claim 1, wherein the top of the pouch is curved in whole or in part.
 4. The pouch of claim 1, wherein the top of the pouch forms an acute angle at the point where it joins the longest side edge of the pouch.
 5. The pouch of claim 1, wherein the front panel or back panel, or both, are ribbed or textured.
 6. A pill crusher pouch, comprising: a single sheet of flexible sheet material folded upon itself to form a front panel and back panel, each with a top, bottom and side edges, said front and back panel being sealed together along a bottom and side edge to form an open pouch with two side edges, wherein the two side edges of the pouch are not the same length.
 7. The pouch of claim 6, wherein the top of the pouch is angled.
 8. The pouch of claim 6, wherein the top of the pouch is curved in whole or in part.
 9. The pouch of claim 6, wherein the top of the pouch forms an acute angle at the point where it joins the longest side edge of the pouch.
 10. A pill crusher pouch, comprising: a front panel of sheet material, with a top, bottom and two side edges; a back panel of sheet material, with a top, bottom and two side edges; said front and back panel being sealed together along their corresponding bottom and side edges to form an open pouch with two sides edges and a bottom seal line, wherein the top of the pouch forms an acute angle at the point where it joins one or both side edges of the pouch.
 11. The pouch of claim 10, wherein the top of the pouch is curved in whole or in part.
 12. The pouch of claim 10, wherein the top of the pouch is straight in whole or in part.
 13. The pouch of claim 10, wherein the bottom seal line is curved in whole or in part.
 14. The pouch of claim 10, wherein the bottom seal line forms an obtuse angle at the point where it joins one or both side edges of the pouch. 